Admiral Sir John Reginald Thomas Fullerton, (10 August 1840 – 29 June 1918) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer and

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...

Early life

Fullerton was born at

Thrybergh Thrybergh is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, from Rotherham. It had a population of 4,327 in 2001, reducing to 4,058 at the 2011 Census. History Thrybergh – which is mentione ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, the only son of the Rev. Weston Fullerton, Rector of Thrybergh, a scion of the landed gentry.John Reginald Thomas Fullerton R.N.
at pdavis.nl, accessed 6 October 2013 His father died in 1843, and in 1853 Fullerton joined the

as a midshipman.

Naval career

In 1861 Fullerton was promoted

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

, and in 1862 he joined the almost new armoured frigate HMS ''Defence'', a ship of the

Channel Squadron Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

. From 18 August to 14 December 1864 he was an Additional Lieutenant in HMS ''Bombay, an elderly 84-gun

second rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

ship of the line, cruising the coast of South America. The ship was destroyed in an accidental fire during target practice near Flores Island in the River Plate, off Montevideo, with the loss of some ninety officers and men. In 1865 he joined HMS ''Narcissus'', a wooden-hulled

screw frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for exa ...

, still on the South America station, and on 10 March 1870, still a Lieutenant, was posted to the new corvette ''Volage'' in the Channel Squadron. At the end of 1870 ''Volage'' transferred to a Flying Squadron which circumnavigated the world and did not return to England until the end of 1872. By an

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

dated 5 February 1872, Fullerton was promoted to the rank of Commander. In 1874 ''Volage'' took a group of astronomers to the Kerguelen Islands to observe a

transit of Venus frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a tr ...

. In 1875 Fullerton joined the royal yacht HMY ''Victoria and Albert'' as second-in-command under Hugh Cambell, who died of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

on 12 February 1877. He was promoted Captain on 10 January 1878, and on 18 January 1883 was posted as Captain to HMS ''Sapphire'', an ''Amethyst''-class wooden screw corvette of the

China Squadron The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...

. However, he was soon called home, as on 15 October 1884 he was given command of the royal yacht ''Victoria and Albert II'', a position he retained until 1901. On 1 January 1893 Fullerton was promoted

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

and an Honorary Aide-de-Camp to HM the Queen. On 9 May 1899, at the time of Queen Victoria's visit to Cherbourg, he was knighted by being appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and on 13 July of the same year was promoted Vice-Admiral. On 1 February 1901, the eve of the funeral of Queen Victoria, he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, and on 25 February was appointed an Honorary Naval Aide-de-Camp to the new King,

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

. On 15 March 1904, Fullerton retired the service with the rank of full Admiral.

Private life

On 18 June 1874 Fullerton married Ada Capell, a daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Samuel Capell,Charles Mosley, ed., ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'' (107th edition, 2003), vol. 1, p. 1,349 who was a grandson of

William Capell, 4th Earl of Essex William Anne Holles Capell, 4th Earl of Essex (7 October 1732 – 4 March 1799), was a British landowner and peer, a member of the House of Lords. Early life Capell was born on 7 October 1732 in Turin. He was the son of William Capell, 3rd Earl o ...

. Their children were a daughter, Judith, and a son, Admiral Sir Eric Fullerton (1878–1962). In 1901 Judith married Lieutenant Sidney Julius Meyrick (1879–1973), who later became Admiral Sir Sidney Meyrick. In 1908 Eric married Dorothy Sibyl Fisher, one of the daughters of Admiral John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher.Mosley (2003), vol. 1, p. 1,432

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fullerton, John 1840 births 1918 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Royal Navy admirals Military personnel from Yorkshire